I've certaily seen programming shops where the programmers always wear white collars (and ties; well, the male programmers). I've never seen a programming shop where the programmers wear blue cover-alls. I'm pretty sure that is where the "blue collar" term came from.

So I think "white collar" is the clear winner with regard to programmers. The "Manager vs Productive Worker" divide is what the term "Suits" is for. White collar workers work in offices (no, that doesn't mean that they each get their own office, they might be in the cube farm part of the office) and don't get their hands or knees particularly dirty because they don't do manual labor. They used to mostly wear white shirts but times have changed on that point.

Sure, at least many programmers have some things in common with other "grunt" workers. But I don't think it makes sense to redefine "blue collar" to cover them.

I'm actually wearing a blue collar today but I'm not wearing cover-alls. And I call the corner of the house where I do my work my "office" not my "shop".